* live, streaming video of barista glitterati in action — even hiccuping video with warpy sound — is flabbergastingly more compelling than youtubed competition videos. clips: eh. everybody does it and nobody endures them all. but the stream — tha stream is happening right now. it’s irresistible.

* that messy, snarky, meandering fanboy commentary that unraveled today alongside the moving pictures — it’s a taste of community. an extension of the convention ruckus for snivelling homebodies like this blog. simple, haphazard — and vital!

* do not, however, make slighting remarks about competitor 27 while his father is watching the feed. don’t. baaad.

* all this glorious electronic carnivality — lost in the bowels of these interwebs. why no archives? this blog looked into ustream a year ago for this very use, and happens to know that archiving the video is entirely possible. relive the ignominy! re-chew the cud! seems like competitors might want to obsess at some point over the world’s reaction to their routines …

* the house blog is of interest, if a bit promotional. more narrative! more dot-connecting! or, you know, at least some humor — with writers’ names connected to the blog posts. how else will we know if hoffmann is working, or merely practicing what we call in the profession “celebrity journalism.” sordid. inexcusable. (UPDATE: names now attached! is it just us, or if hoffmann getting all the sweet assignments?)